My Friend, the Pope (in-training)
by Lucathia Rykatu
Summary: Grisia wasn't chosen as the Sun Knight. This is the legend of the strongest Pope in all history. AU.
1. Part 1: Roland

My Friend, the Pope (in-training)

by Lucathia

**Summary**: Grisia wasn't chosen as the Sun Knight. This is the legend of the strongest Pope in all history. AU.

**Notes:** This fic will eventually be influenced by canon through volume 8. The story, however, takes place during their training days and will not cover the time frame of the main novels. (So far, no spoilers past current translations! ~v5). Names and terminology mostly follow Prince Revolutions' translations.

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**Part 1: Roland**

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I first met him at the selection for the next Sun Knight. In the beginning, I did not pay him any more attention than I paid the other candidates. We all wanted to become the Sun Knight. That was all I knew about him and the others. However, as both of us were orphans and largely avoided by the other candidates, we soon drifted together. He wasn't someone I normally would have been interested in, but his persistence made it so that I had to acknowledge his presence.

That, and he needed my help.

You would think that his blond hair and blue eyes would be cause for admiration, but it wasn't so among the Sun Knight candidates. Few of the candidates possessed the features of the Sun Knight of legends - the closest was sandy blond hair and another possessed dark blue eyes, never the right combination - yet there he was, the splitting image of the dazzling, legendary Sun Knight. All he had to do was smile to complete the picture.

His appearance alone had garnered the attention of all of the candidates. They watched him, hawk-like, waiting to see if he would live up to his appearance, or if he would fail. It was not admiration they regarded him with, but rather jealousy and bitterness over his natural advantage against the rest of us.

I noticed none of this. So focused was I on the various tests administered during the selection that I didn't notice until things came to a head, forcing me to see.

Five against one.

Never would I turn my back on such a situation, but neither had I ever considered that there would be bullies among us. I immediately jumped in front of him, blocking his bruised body from the other boys. Fury overcame me, and I swore that none of the boys before me would become the next Sun Knight. I managed to take them on and ward them off, but I would soon realize that they weren't going to give up so easily. I hadn't managed to solve a single thing and had only managed to paint the target darker.

When I turned to help him up, reaching out a hand, I saw that his wounds were more severe than I had thought, but he still tried to smile at me, wincing the moment he attempted to do so. His hands gripped mine tightly. I pulled him up, adamant about taking him to see the clerics, but he tugged me back.

I turned.

He introduced himself as Grisia. I told him my name, Roland.

Then, I watched, mesmerized, as he touched his fingers to his face, fingertips glowing, injuries disappearing. Dropping his hands, he looked up at me, bruises completely gone, and smiled widely, dazzlingly, without wincing at all.

That was the day we became friends even though I hadn't known that was what we were until much later. Grisia had to spell it out for me, as he often had to do with such matters. When he did, I couldn't stop myself from smiling and wondering if my smile was anything like the dazzling one he had shown me.

I doubted it.

At the dinner table that first night, Grisia brought his plate over to mine and sat down without asking, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for us to hang out together. That was exactly what we did from then onward. Grisia would always come to find me even though I was sure that I wasn't a very interesting person at all.

Grisia was not at all like anyone else I had ever known before. He was both brave and cowardly at the same time, a walking contradiction. He could stand up for me against the toughest of our rivals, never once considering abandoning me, yet he would flee in the face of a small dog, afraid of getting bitten. He would jump into a fight without a second thought if he saw someone in need, yet he was adamant about not fighting fights that he couldn't win, his actions and his words not matching up.

Was he brave, or was he cowardly? I couldn't figure it out.

What I did understand was that despite that we both wished to become the Sun Knight, we were as different as different could be. He was lively whereas I was not. He could smile and make it feel like the sun had managed to break through the clouds whereas I could not. He could worm into people's hearts whereas I had little idea about where to start.

He was every bit what a Sun Knight should be, but at the same time, he was not. Yet another contradiction. It was true that his smile was brilliant, but he would never be a very good holy knight ability-wise. Try as he might, he could not wield a sword nor ride a horse. This failure of his caused many a snicker among the candidates, all certain that there was very little chance that Grisia would ever be chosen as a holy knight, let alone the next Sun Knight.

I did not despair nor did I rejoice. I only felt saddened that we might not be able to stay together. I had to admit that we were meant to walk down different paths in our lives, but I also wanted to believe that our lives, although different, would still be intertwined, like threads of cloth woven together.

That was what made me open my mouth to tell Grisia my hopes for the future. I wished so hard for it to become true, for I did not want to part from my very first friend.

"Grisia, if you aren't chosen as the Sun Knight, then being a cleric wouldn't be too bad either! Then you'd be able to help heal my injuries in the future."

I spoke from the heart. I would never forget his smile and the ease at which he had healed his injuries. It was something I could not even hope to copy. It was a gift, a priceless talent, and it would be a pity not to use it.

My wish came true, even beyond my wildest hopes.

On the day that I was chosen as the next Sun Knight, Grisia was chosen as the next Pope, leaving the current Sun Knight grumbling about losing his back-up Sun Knight candidate.

Grisia and I were both shocked he had even been considered.

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to be continued

**A/N:** Next up is Lesus's POV. :) These new fics I'm posting are teasers for future projects after Bittersweet Sweetness. This story is mostly about Grisia as the Pope (in-training), though it is also very much about Roland as the Sun Knight-in-training. I imagine that his swordplay would be even more impressive under Neo's tutelage!


	2. Part 2: Lesus

My Friend, the Pope (in-training)

by Lucathia

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Legend of Sun Knight and make no profit from writing this.

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**Part 2: Lesus  
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Although my teacher said I would eventually grow accustomed to interrogations, I wasn't able to envision such a future when I first started out. Interrogations nearly always came with a visit to the bathroom, and there I would bend over, throat burning as I heaved.

It was after my first interrogation as the Judgment Knight-in-training that Sun Knight Neo brought over his successor, Roland, and it was through Roland that I later met _him_. I did not understand why Sun Knight had brought Roland to the Judge's Complex. Were they here to witness my failure or to condemn me for being cruel? I had seen Roland in passing before, but I had never truly spoken with him. I did not know what he was actually like.

With my teacher standing behind me and Roland's teacher standing behind him, we regarded each other awkwardly. Even after Roland's teacher gave him a nudge, he did not start speaking. I did not know what to say either. I tried not to shuffle my feet. My stomach was queasy, and I was in no state of mind to put on a facade.

I truly had much to learn. Even if I weren't so hampered, I would still be unable to completely adopt the demeanor of the Judgment Knight. Teacher had been in the same room as me during the interrogation, yet he appeared completely fine, expression unchanging. I, on the other hand, felt so upset that I might throw up. I tried to tell my stomach to calm down. It would not do for me to vomit on the future Sun Knight. Wouldn't that be the best impression to make?

Teacher placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, breaking me out of my depressing thoughts. I followed that hand up with my eyes. Teacher looked back at me, and although he didn't smile, I thought he might be trying to reassure me. The slight furrow between his brows was most likely concern for me.

How long would it take me before I could appear as unruffled and imposing as my teacher? I thought myself ready back when I naively drew my dagger against Teacher in want of revenge, but remembering my past folly only made me feel embarrassed now. I had been so naive then, thinking that justice could be so easily dealt by the mere act of drawing a blade. If justice could be dealt in such a way by a single person, that person could only be playing at being god, and there would be no need for the law.

Despite Teacher's attempt at reassuring me, it was not enough to keep my tears at bay with the Sun Knights standing before me, seemingly accusing me of cruelty. My eyes grew moist. I could not stop myself from remembering what I had done in the interrogation room and from recalling my naive self who had wanted to deal justice by pulling out a single dagger.

I quickly lowered my head in hopes that Teacher would not see the expression that had taken over my face.

Dealing justice was so much harder than what my naive self had thought. Shame burned through me for ever thinking differently, for belittling what Teacher had to do everyday.

I blinked my eyes hard, willing my eyes to stay dry, willing myself not to appear weak in front of not only Teacher, but also my future leader and the Sun Knight, but it was for naught. The future Sun Knight, Roland, had already seen my moment of weakness. He looked at me with a frown and finally spoke. "What has upset you?"

Even as Roland asked, his teacher, Sun Knight Neo, shook his head of dazzlingly blond hair and said, "Roland, must Teacher remind you once more to keep the God of Light in your heart at all times?"

The smile on Sun Knight's face was not a reassuring one. In fact, I felt the urge to hide behind my teacher. If not for my teacher's hand, which was still holding me in place, I would have done it.

In fact, Teacher, instead of holding me to reassure me, was probably trying to keep me from running away and hiding in the bathroom.

Roland frowned some more. "Teacher, surely the God of Light has nothing to do with what has upset Lesus."

Sun Knight flicked his eyes up, as if in prayer, and said, "The God of Light has to do with everything, be it having enough to eat or even going about your business in the bathroom!" Then, he poked Roland right in the middle of his forehead where his frown had made the area between his eyebrows wrinkle. "Keep frowning, Roland, and you will have wrinkles even before you hit twenty. Can't you smile? What happened to the smile I saw the other day? Teacher knows you are hiding a smile somewhere."

Roland touched his forehead. He hesitated and said, "I was only remembering something Grisia said then."

"Grisia, again? That child..." Sun Knight shook his head, grumbling under his breath, "That old geezer's student better not corrupt mine..." In a louder voice, he said, "Well, what are you waiting for? If you must, think of something Grisia said. I expect to see a smile on your face!"

At the time, I did not know who this Grisia was, only that he was likely to be a good friend of Roland's. I did not know he would become mine too. Roland obeyed his teacher's orders and started thinking hard. Not a moment later, a snort escaped from him. He quickly clamped his hand over his mouth.

I watched the scene before me with wide eyes, my queasiness forgotten. Sun Knight shook his head and flicked his eyes up again. I had been mistaken earlier. I thought he had been looking skyward for the God of Light's guidance but...

Was he actually rolling his eyes in exasperation?

My teacher squeezed my shoulder, and he leaned down to whisper to me.

"See, Lesus? You are not the only one who is still practicing how to appear in public. You are not alone."

Then, he let go of me and gave me a gentle nudge toward Roland.

"Practice together," he said.

However, when Roland turned toward me with a small smile on his face, one that was entirely out of place, and said, "Lesus, you did a good job with that criminal. He definitely deserved a severe punishment. Although you flogged the skin right off of him, it is not your fault," several things happened all at once.

First, Sun Knight smacked his own face. Very ungracefully.

Second, images of the flogging I dealt the criminal surfaced again, and I could no longer keep my queasiness down.

Third, Roland was now looking at me with alarm. My face must have turned green.

I covered my mouth and pushed past Roland, running madly towards the bathroom in the Judge's Complex.

Behind me, both Roland's teacher and mine sighed.

"Chasel," the Sun Knight lamented, "We really should have switched students. Roland would have made a fine Judgment Knight!"

It was with more and more growing unease that I ran off, praying that my teacher wouldn't take the Sun Knight seriously. I didn't want to be switched!

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to be continued

**A/N:** The part about Lesus pulling his dagger on Chasel is from the side story "Making a Mistake." Roland says that he wants to become the Sun Knight to punish evil-doers in the side story "For You All," so my interpretation of him is that he is very strict on criminals. After all, he would even come back as a death knight to see that the king does not continue his misdeeds!

Next up is Ceo!


	3. Part 3: Ceo

My Friend, the Pope (in-training)

by Lucathia

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Legend of Sun Knight and make no profit from writing this.

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**Part 3: Ceo  
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During one of my joint hair dyeing sessions with Roland, I met his friend, the pope-in-training.

Well, "met" is probably not the right word to describe our first encounter, as it makes it sound like we came across each other and exchanged pleasantries or something along those lines, and that wasn't quite what happened.

At the time, Roland and I were in his room, mixing and applying our hair dyes. We had to make our own hair dyes, since we had already used up the bottles our teachers gave us to start us off. They'd refused to give us more, explaining that it was now our responsibility to acquire hair dye, whether we bought it or made our own.

Buying it would be quicker, but as holy knights-in-training who didn't receive much pay, we were pretty much dirt poor, and after my teacher's warning about thoroughly concealing my identity while buying the hair dye so as not to let the public find out the Storm Knight didn't naturally have blue hair, I just thought it easier to make my own hair dye instead. I doubted anyone believed that there really were people out there born with blue hair, but as the Storm Knight-in-training, it was my duty to maintain the image of the Storm Knight passed down through the ages. I definitely did not want to be the one destroying that image!

At first, I had been dismayed at the tasks given to us, both having to dye our hair and having to acquire the hair dye for doing so, but I was at least consoled by the fact that I would not be alone in this. Roland would be dyeing his hair just as much as I would be dyeing mine. At the time we received the news, I'd darted my eyes at him, sneaking a look at his serious face. He'd accepted his teacher's instructions without a single complaint. I'd quickly copied his expression and nodded at my teacher as solemnly as I could, trying to indicate that I too knew how important the task was.

I soon found out, however, that it was not that Roland thought hair dyeing to be a grave matter - he was just a very serious person who took everything seriously, be it a task from his teacher or a pursuit of his own. Often, I would see Roland practicing at the training grounds after hours. From time to time, the Sun Knight would stand and watch, head shaking.

Maybe Roland was even taking it _too_ far.

"This child is no fun..." I once heard the Sun Knight mutter. However, it must have been a figment of my imagination, for in the very next second, the Sun Knight sported a smile on his face as he drew his sword and joined Roland in his training. They were always a sight to see.

The point was, whether it was dyeing his hair or practicing his sword, Roland faced everything with the same seriousness. Since he had been ordered to dye his hair, as the Sun Knight _must_ have dazzling blond hair just like how the Storm Knight _must_ have bewitching blue hair, he would habitually dye his hair way before his roots started showing. Roland would come to me and gesture to his hair, indicating that it was that time again, the time to maintain our hair together. Whenever this happened, I would nod. Then, after completing my duties for the day, I would bring over a basin and all of my hair dyeing supplies to Roland's room, which was larger than mine.

This time was no different. First, we focused on preparing our own hair dyes, grinding the materials and mixing them. Then, we took turns dyeing the other person's hair. As I helped Roland apply his hair dye, I conversationally said, "You know, Roland, if you didn't cut your hair so much, it would grow slower and you wouldn't have to dye it so often, I think."

I figured that was how hair had to work. After all, people were always telling me that cutting my hair would make it grow better and faster, so the opposite had to be true too.

With my gloves on, I lifted part of Roland's hair - it was indeed very short - to get at the strands close to his scalp. Like always, I barely saw any brown peeking out. Roland was very diligent... But we probably needed to ease up a bit if we didn't want to ruin our hair before we even became the official Twelve Holy Knights. We still had many more years to go.

I would always remember what Roland said next. I had never pegged him as a hair expert, and he really wasn't one, so it was surprising hearing him talk about the intricacies of hair. Roland glanced at me through the mirror and said, "I don't think that's true. Grisia told me that cutting your hair makes it healthier because the split ends get trimmed, but it doesn't make your hair grow faster. Hair grows at a fixed rate."

Apparently, the topic had come up between them before when this Grisia person had first seen Roland's dyed hair, and Roland had pondered about the rate of his hair growth and how often he would need to dye his hair.

I immediately wondered who this Grisia was, this person who knew so much about hair and who was even talking with Roland about it. Not a lot of people even knew that Roland didn't naturally have golden hair. Getting Roland to dye his hair was one of the first things the Sun Knight had Roland do. The only reason I even knew Roland's hair color wasn't natural was because my teacher was the hair dyeing expert. He had been super smug when the Sun Knight had come to him for assistance, so smug that he had even let me out early from my character training class that day, saving himself a lot of frustration too. It can't be very fun trying to teach me how to flirt. You'd have a better time trying to teach a rock than trying to teach me, and that's saying something.

Roland's eyes darted toward my hair through the mirror. "Is that why you're growing your hair out? You're hoping it will grow slower the longer it gets?"

My hair was now past my shoulders. I hadn't had it cut ever since I had been chosen as the next Storm Knight. I planned on growing it even longer.

"Sort of," I mumbled, hoping he wouldn't dig further. If growing my hair out didn't make it...grow slower, that did defeat half the purpose, and even I thought my second reason to be silly. I swiped at his hair some more and shifted my eyes away from his reflection. I tried to keep myself busy, but it didn't work.

"What's the other reason?" Roland still asked.

I gave his hair a tug, small revenge for Roland's straightforwardness, but I couldn't blame him for wanting to know. I'd be curious too. Face warming, I murmured quietly, "I thought it would be a good confidence booster, considering how I'm not exactly the largest person around."

Roland was much taller than me, and so was Georgo and Chikus. It wasn't just height either. I was too slim. I felt _tiny_ next to them. Nothing like a holy knight. I really needed my growth spurt. Like, yesterday.

"So, you're compensating with your hair?" Roland asked in reply, a small, amused smile tugging at his lips. It looked good on him - it made him look kind. He'd confessed that he wasn't very good at smiling, but I thought he was going to do just fine. At least, much better than me and flirting. I just wished he wasn't so amused over my situation! I was already embarrassed enough!

"He must be doing the same..." Roland murmured and chuckled before looking back at me. I almost thought he was laughing at me until his words registered - he was amused because of someone else.

I didn't know who exactly he thought was doing the same as me. I had a guess, but I wasn't sure. I was just glad he wasn't laughing at me. I swallowed. "I guess... I am. Sort of. I mean, you've seen how long the Judgment Knight's hair is, right? And well, he is one of the most impressive and confident people I know."

And by having long hair, I meant really, really, reaaaally long hair. Chasel Judgment's hair reached below his waist. Coupled with his black robes, he was always a swirl of flowing darkness. If I could even obtain _half_ of his impressiveness, I would be all set.

Roland looked contemplative. "You're right. Even my teacher defers to him, and my teacher..."

He stopped halfway in his sentence, seemingly not knowing how to finish it. Knowing Roland, he was probably too respectful to badmouth his own teacher. Instead, he said, "It seems impractical to grow your hair out."

"Has your teacher said anything about long hair?" I wondered. Sun Knight's hair came to his shoulders, though it was far shorter than Judgment Knight's. It seemed likely that he would want his student to grow his hair out. Instead, Roland's hair was cropped fairly short. It only reached slightly past his ears.

Brows furrowed, Roland replied, "He did suggest that I grow my hair out, but then he changed his mind."

"Really? Why?" I asked, curious.

Roland opened his mouth, but I never did find out why. In the very next moment, the door burst open with a blast of holy light even more effective than the Blaze Knight's foot.

"Roland, you'll never guess what I learned today!" a cheerful voice exclaimed from the door. Immediately afterward, I heard a sharp intake of breath, and the voice scolded, "Roland Sun! Don't you love the God of Light anymore? Tsk tsk! Bringing a girl to your room!"

I stared at the small figure at the door. If I didn't know better, I would have thought the person to be Neo Sun's child, but the Sun Knight was only allowed to love the God of Light and never women, so surely he didn't have any children.

Still, blond hair and blue eyes... and hair around the same length too. However... such a hairstyle on Neo Sun made him look strong. On this teenager... it only made him look feminine. He really had no room to talk, considering I'd only just realized he wasn't a girl. Combined with his small stature, I'd say that he looked more like a girl than me!

"Grisia might be compensating too," Roland said to me, amused smile back on his face.

So this was Grisia, and this was the person Roland must have been chuckling about. I didn't think this person would look more like the Sun Knight than Roland did. If I were Roland, I would definitely diligently dye my hair too.

I looked at Grisia, who was possibly even shorter than me but whose hair was quite long, and replied, "I think you're right."

That was how I first met Grisia, the pope-in-training. Right after our quips - he hadn't been very happy about them - he showed us exactly what he had learned that day.

Let's just say... Appearances are very deceiving!

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to be continued

**A/N:** Thank you so much for reading, and thanks for the reviews! Next up is a secret~.


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